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Climate Change Online Lab

Climate Change Online Lab
Type: 
Lesson Plan
Audience: 
Formal, 6 - 8
Standards: 
ESS2.D
Keywords: 
carbon dioxide, sea level, sea ice, land ice, global temperatures
Summary: 
In this activity, students will learn about Earth’s climate vital signs. They will use NASA’s Climate Change website to learn about the factors that scientists use to understand changes in our climate.

The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

Students will use NASA’s Global Climate website to research five of the key indicators (vital signs) of Earth’s climate health. They will use this information, shared in their expert groups, to create an informative poster about their assigned key indicator. The poster will be used by other groups to learn about all five of the key indicators and how Earth scientists use these indicators to analyze changes in Earth’s climate.

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Credits: 
NASA GPM

 

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